Expo and Soccer Six!

OMG, I don't really know where to begin - you know after you've done loads of things it's too daunting to even think about... Well, I'm just going to go with the most recent, which is the Merlin weekend I've just had. I'm reeling from it, it was the most fantastic weekend - so much squee, so much fun, so much so my voice is now a croaking husk of itself :)

The highlights: I asked a silly question about the football Bradley was playing the next day and none of the cast seemed to know anything about it, which I found strange. Didn't he even mention it? I'm slightly ashamed of the question really (involved mentioning the shorts) because I thought it would make Bradley smile, but he didn't, but, still, OMG, I got the most slashy answer out of all of them! Johnny Caps, after all the cast had denied knowledge, leant forward, looked over at Colin and said 'If Colin knew, he'd just be there at the match with a bucket of water and a sponge!'

How amazing was that! I think we can trust him as our lead writer! :)

My other cool moments that didn't involve squeeing with loads of like-minded and completely lovely fans, was the questions I managed to get to ask. In fact I held up the queue because I was talking too much, although no-one seemed to mind. I told Bradley he better win the soccer tournament, and he looked bemused and then asked me what I knew, because he thought I knew more about it than he did! Hee.

Then there was Colin. Oh, Colin. There's so much I could say. I think Bradley is a little thrown by fangirls, but Colin doesn't seem fazed at all, I don't know if that's his fine acting skills coming out or not :) I asked Colin about The Sea Change, which is the movie he's doing, and I've read the book, so I could be (relatively) intelligent about it. He was saying that it's still in post-production, and that he needs to film some final shots for it, and then I asked about the story and how great I thought it was, and he agreed, and said it was a bit grim, and dark, but deep. And then I said I thought he would be perfect for the part of Calum, and he laughed and was all self-effacing, and then I had to move on. BUT... About two seconds into this conversation, I realised I couldn't hear a word he was saying over the noise in the hall, so I knelt down, and Colin stared me straight in the eye for all of this, and repeated what I hadn't heard for me once I'd knelt down. I'm amazed I stayed coherant enough to talk as much as I did. I suspect there was wittering, really :)

And then Johnny Caps was right there, and I'd prepared something to ask him too, thank goodness, so I enquired about when Merlin was filming next in France, and he said June. I think. I was still spaced out from staring into Colin's eyes for more than a minute.

And then there was Angel and Katie, and I hadn't prepared anything to ask them, so instead I just generally flailed around a bit squeaking about how fantastic they both were. They *did* laugh though, so sucks boo to you, Bradley James.

And that was my Expo - except that apparently a tiny amount of my flailing at Johnny was caught on camera, so my side view and sleeve is now on YouTubeOMG! :)

Now, Soccer Six was the following day, today, and was lots more fun than I was expecting - perhaps that seems strange, but I don't follow football, so I wasn't expecting to be as invested as I was - I really wanted the boys to win. It was close - they made it the semi-finals and lost on the last penalty, dammit. And it was 'the boys' because there was Santiargo there as well, and there was manly hugging. There also appeared to be a certain amount of flirting with the pretty ladies of the girls teams, and a lot of bending over and stretching. Ahem. There was also rolling around on the grass with your legs in the air - who knew?

And I would say that our rows in the stand were - loud? Would that be fair? By shouting his name in chorus we did get a wave out of Santiargo, aww, but Bradley was avoiding us, I think. See? Scared of fangirls. *nods firmly*

I think the thing I found best about this day is that we just got to stare and admire for hours - and interpret the behaviour, like we were filming a wildlife documentary. I loved the fact that Bradley appeared to have taken over impromptu leadership of his team 'The In-Betweeners', including leading team hugs, team strategy huddles, ordering his fellow players on and off the pitch, getting the audience to applaud the team that beat them when we booing them. He was a real leader of men!

He's also not bad at actual football - he was certainly the best player on his team, and that's not my partiality showing either. The one time he was resting on the side, his team let in 4 goals! And didn't score one! When he went back on the pitch they started scoring again.

Is anyone - I mean anyone at all surprised that Bradley is a striker? No? Thought as much.

He even, at one point, completely shoulder-charged Tamar Hussein, who's built like a house, and then squared up to him when he objected! Tamar got sent off later for trying to start a fight, so I was quite worried - I mean, Bradley's about half his size!

It was a glorious way to spend a Sunday, with the sky a dazzling blue, and pretty people to watch (Santiargo even took off his shirt). I was out in the fresh air (unusual for me), I ate a hotdog (traditional), and I got a little sun-burnt, despite being under the glass roof panel. Lovely... *sigh*

I want to thank all the fangirls I met up with, some for the first time, for a fantabulous weekend, you guys make it so special! There was thisissirius, and ionaonie, and krazykipper, and flameofphoenix, who put me up for the night, and loads of others. Thank you all for being wonderful.